Hollywood’s Costliest Flops: Films That Lost Big at the Box Office

A lot of money is spent on the production of any movie. From actors’ fees to preparing the sets or moving to the locations for filming, costumes, makeup, etc… millions are spent making a film.

Every filmmaker makes a film with the hope that whatever he is investing in, the film will recover with good profit.

But often, even after investing a huge amount in the film, some movies perform much worse at the box office than the filmmakers had even imagined.

Films That Lost Big at the Box Office

Like the movies that become hits every year, the list of movies that flop is also very big. Here, we have made a list of movies that could not even earn equal to their budget at the box office and were a big flop for the production companies. The budget and box office details are based on the data collected from The Numbers.

Cats (2019)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Rating
$100 million	$75.5 million	19%

The Cats 2019, directed by Tom Hooper, is a musical fantasy based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, a 1981 Broadway musical.

Cats features a cast that includes James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and Francesca Hayward.

The budget of the film was around $100 million, but it could make only $75.5 million at the box office, which is only 0.8 times the production budget. The total loss was estimated at $71 million, making it one of the biggest box-office failures of all time.

It received negative reviews from critics. One critic even wrote, “I’ve never used drugs, but I suppose the feeling is close to what I experienced watching Cats” on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also Read: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Bankability: Does His Star Power Justify Hefty Fees?

The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$100 million	$7.1 million	5%

Ron Underwood directed The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which starred Eddie Murphy, Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Guzmán, and others.

This film was one of the biggest box office bombs from science fiction action comedy films.

Despite its $100 million production budget, it could only make $7.1 million worldwide box office, which is only 0.1 of the production budget.

Along with the financial failure, the film was also a big critical failure and received 5% scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Gigli (2003)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$54 million	$7.1 million	6%

Gigli is a romantic comedy film directed by Martin Brest. Its talented cast members include Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.

This movie was getting full media coverage during its production due to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s romance in the film.

Despite the excellent cast, the movie was one of the biggest box-office flops of all time.

Against its $54 million budget, Gigli’s worldwide box-office collection was $7.1 million, which is only 0.1 of the production budget.

Sahara (2005)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$145 million	$121.6 million	38%

Directed by Breck Eisner this action-adventure film is based on Clive Cussler’s 1992 novel of the same name.

The film’s cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, and Penélope Cruz.

The movie’s budget was $80 million initially; later, it increased to $145 million. Despite this, as per The Numbers, it earned only $121.6 at the box office, which is only 0.8 of its production.

Sahara received negative reviews from critics. One critic wrote on Rotten Tomatoes, “Sahara rather resembles National Treasure, another film with a strained storyline and deadening lack of visual richness.”

Stealth (2005)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$138 million	$76.3 million	13%

Rob Cohen directed Stealth, a military sci-fi film starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard, Joe Morton, and Richard Roxburgh.

Stealth was one of the biggest box office failures despite its $138 million budget. It grossed $76.3 million worldwide, which is only 0.6 of its production budget.

Along with its box office failure, Stealth was a big critical failure. One critic said it, “A technical marvel, but an uninvolving failure at an emotional level.”

Another one said, “Ends up resembling its robot plane: fast, sleek, soulless and monotone.”

Mars Needs Moms (2011)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$150 million	$39.5 million	37%

This animated sci-fi film, directed by Simon Wells, is based on the Berkeley Breathed book of the same name.

Mars Needs Moms was produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. After its box-office failure, it became the company’s last animated movie.

ImageMovers Digital was shut down and later became ImageMovers and stopped making animated movies.

Mars Needs Moms could make $39.5 million worldwide against its $150 million budget, which is only 0.3 of its production budget. Thus, it is one of the costliest box-office flops of all time.

However, it received mixed reviews from critics; some praised the visuals but didn’t like the story and characters.

One critic said, “Mars Needs To Work Out How To Animate Humans So They Don’t Look Like Possessed Shop Window Dummies.”

Another said, “The story canters along at a merry pace and doesn’t outstay its welcome..”

47 Ronin (2013)

Budget	Box Office	Rotten Tomatoes Score
$175 million	$151 million	16%

Directed by Carl Rinsch, this is a historical fantasy action film that was released by Universal Pictures.

It received mostly negative reviews from critics and earned $151 million at the box office, while the production budget was $175 million.

It was included in the list of films that Lost Big at the Box Office and became the biggest box-office bomb of 2012, as Ronin could only make 0.9 of its production budget.

The reason behind the failure of these films

Multiple reasons can be behind a film’s failure, such as poor marketing and competition from other popular movies released at the same time can be a factor.

Other reasons included bad stories and critics’ negative reviews, poor acting, and a confusing storyline for audiences.

The excessively high production budget was also the reason for the box office failure of some movies like Sahara.